What happens when there is a serious problem with an eVTOL aircraft? China's AeroHT company has released a video showing how its innovative low-altitude multi-umbrella system can turn a catastrophic propulsion system failure into a soft landing from an altitude of just 50 meters (164 feet).
The use of ballistic parachutes as a last resort has been discussed by eVTOL aircraft manufacturers for years, and the usefulness of using ballistic parachutes at altitudes below about 100 meters (328 feet) has also been evaluated, as at such altitudes, such systems have little time to deploy.
AeroHT has now answered this question by releasing a video of the X2 manned multi-rotor prototype deploying a multi-parachute safety system at a height of 50 meters above the ground.
The parachute begins to capture air about a second and a half after it is ejected from the front of the aircraft, fully deploys after a second and a half or so, and successfully grabs the X2 before it flips, keeping its descent speed at 5.2 m/s (18.7 km/h, 11.6 mph) before hitting the ground.
You'll notice that the AeroHT cut the video, removing what can be quite a violent swing when the propellers pull the nose of the plane back to the level, and the moment the plane slams into the ground. The company said the plane was not damaged, and while the fall appeared bearable for the passengers on board, it certainly wouldn't be very comfortable – the landing speed was equivalent to a jump from a height of 1.4 meters (4.6 feet), and there was no obvious suspension to withstand the impact of the spine.
However, according to Omni's freefall calculator, objects falling from a height of 50 meters usually hit the ground after 3.2 seconds at a speed of about 31.3 m/s (113 km/h, 70 mph). So while catastrophic failures and parachute landings don't look interesting, I definitely know which speed I'd rather land.
We'd love to see an uncut version of this video; Clips like this would have cast doubt on the company's claims. But in our opinion, this is credible enough, and as you can imagine, the company that develops the self-driving plane clearly doesn't particularly want potential buyers to see a scene of the cabin spinning in the air or hitting the ground.
Despite hitting the ground at a speed of 5.2 m/s, the company claims that the aircraft was "unscathed".
AeroHT also recently showed off a six-wheel-drive "aircraft carrier" van as well as the latest version of the flying supercar.